Deck, ceiling, vanity, and hopefully tile progress! Some appliances on order now. Shares needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

We came home this evening to this. Not the lights on, but the progress on the deck. If you closely, you can see that they got a lot more of the planks laid. From upstairs, it looks like this, only stretching almost to either end:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

We were gone most of the day, having had to go down to Santa Fe to place an order and make a delivery. The trip was grueling, especially for me while we were walking around Lowe's and Home Depot. They really need to scatter chairs around, because I (and a lot of other folks) simply cannot stand for extended periods anymore, especially on concrete floors. Still, we managed to get some of the appliances ordered (thank you, givers of Home Depot cards!), even if they won't be delivered before the end of frigging October. I smell another postponement of our gathering. Luckily, we also managed make the needed delivery of a fantastic new work by Wings (I'll feature it in a #TBT post someday), and we also got a chance to sit a talk and have some fun with some much-loved friends.

But it's good to be home. And we also returned to this:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

And this:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

In other words, the cleanest the downstairs has been in months. It's all prep for the tilework that I am promised commences tomorrow.

Speaking of tile, Tony fixed this:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

It was so cute; the guys even dug the first bit of Hardeebacker they'd cut out for the faucet out of whatever pile of trash they'd tossed it in, and glued it back in place, then drilled the new hole where it belonged — i.e., where the X was. Sherm was also true to his word:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Scratch and float of the downstairs shower ceiling, so that all the remains is the color coat on Monday, and then three coats of sealer. And then, I hope, the frigging tile.

Another plus: We also returned to find that our new mattress had been delivered. We're going to need help getting it up the stairs, because I can't lift anything right now, so we probably won't get it set up until the weekend. The bathroom is still not entirely functional, obviously. But soon.

As I've been saying, for now, we still have a long way to go, a lot to get done, and unfortunately, a lot to pay out. And as I've also said, honestly? We're still going to need to raise cash down the road to cover labor and local materials costs. But sales can cover that, too. And for the moment, what helps the most, without question: Home Depot, Lowe's, Wayfair, or Amazon gift cards. Any denomination whatsoever. Thanks to the mold problem, we're having to replace all linens, the futon mattress, potentially even the couch and love seat (which will no doubt be reduced to couch and chair, because we don't need or really have room for a love seat anymore anyway). For a child of Depression-era parents, this is incredibly difficult for me; my first instinct is to try to save and salvage everything, because when you grow up as poor as I did, you never know what you might need down the road. But my posse is working on me rather insistently, and strictly on the health level, I know they're right, so here we are, an RV full of stuff that has to be replaced. So please send the links out far and wide:

• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• Wings's site, for sales;
• Lowe's cards (the physical version) via our Amazon wishlist;
• Lowe's e-cards (delivered via e-mail) here; and
• Home Depot cards via the company site. The e-version using my e-mail address is great; I take the tablet to the store with me, and they scan it off the screen.
• Wayfair gift cards, to replenish all the furnishings that the RV has destroyed in one way or another.

Many thanks and much love from us both, for donations, gift cards, shares, recs, moral support, and just generally helping me not lose my mind. I am absolutely beat after this day, and I'm about to take a shower and throw on my sweats and call it a night.

P.S. And yes, this is still ongoing, natch: IKT has "upgraded" our service (for another $10 a month, natch, and without telling us in advance) to the point that half the time, I can't load anything. When that happens, my e-mail is always the first to go, and I have messages trickling through in fits and starts, some from days ago. If you've e-mailed me and don't hear from me immediately, this is why; if you can reach me on FB or Twitter, DM me there, or try shooting another message through. I'll be sorting through them as steadily as I can, I promise.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.